Summer services were denied for my child, despite the regression
Your child loses skills over each school break and takes weeks to get them back, and the team said extended school year services are not needed this summer. Not without an individual look at your child: the team may not limit ESY by disability category or cap its type, amount or length, and it decides on your child’s own facts (34 CFR 300.106(a)(2), (a)(3)). Start by pulling the IEP page or the letter the dispute turns on and writing down today’s date; every move below adds to that record.
What the rule says
“Extended school year services must be provided only if a child’s IEP Team determines, on an individual basis … that the services are necessary for the provision of FAPE to the child.”
34 CFR 300.106(a)(2)
A denial rests on what your own child’s breaks actually show, not on a rule the district applies to every student like them.
What to do this week, in order
Build a break-by-break log: the skill, the date the break started, and the date your child got back to where they were before it.
A dated regression-and-recovery log
Pull the school’s own data on the same skills from right before and right after the last two breaks.
The school’s pre- and post-break data
Put the question to the team in writing: did the denial rest on a category rule, or on your child’s own numbers.
The team’s written explanation of the denial34 CFR 300.106(a)(3)
Give the case manager your log before the next break, and ask for a decision while there is still time to arrange coverage.
Your emailed log and its send date
What to put in writing
Replace what sits in brackets and send it by email, so the date is fixed.
- To
- Whoever signs off on ESY at the district office, copying the case manager
Dear [District ESY approver’s name], Attached is [child’s full name]’s log for [break name, e.g. winter break]: [skill] dropped after the break and took about [length of time] to recover. The team turned down extended school year for [upcoming break or summer]. Could you share the pre- and post-break data behind that call, and confirm the decision was made for [child’s name] individually rather than for a category of students. If the answer is still no, please label the refusal prior written notice, cite 34 CFR 300.503, and state the data it rested on. Kind regards, [Your name]
If the answer is no, it arrives as prior written notice: what was refused, why, and the records the district relied on (34 CFR 300.503(b)).
When to escalate, and to whom
Escalate when the written answer is a no, or when the record you built this week draws no answer at all.
| The path | The count | How it runs |
|---|---|---|
| A state complaint | 60 days to a decision | A signed letter to your state education agency about a violation inside the past year; the state decides in writing within 60 days.34 CFR 300.152(a), 300.153(c) |
| Mediation | Voluntary, at no cost to you | You and the district sit with an impartial mediator the state pays for; it can start before any complaint and may not delay a hearing.34 CFR 300.506(b) |
| A due process complaint | 2 years to file | A hearing before an impartial officer; the district holds a resolution meeting within 15 days, and the decision is due 45 days after the 30-day resolution period.34 CFR 300.507(a)(2), 300.510(a)(1), 300.515(a) |
Those counts are IDEA’s; your state may set its own window for due process, and publishes its own complaint form.
This page explains the federal rule, and it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages this dispute is about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the service, goal or wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Extended school year services (34 CFR 300.106)The individual-basis clause quoted above.
- How the IEP team decides (34 CFR 300.324)The individual review a denial rests on.
- Colorado ESY guidance manualHow one state weighs regression and recoupment.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What every no owes you.
When the paragraph needs to become a full letter, the letter templates carry one for each request.